99 SPX Shaft Alignment

[kicker]

I'm a little stumped with this one. My carbon seal is worn on an angle, so bad that the shaft wore an oval hole in the middle of the carbon seal. It is not even close to lining up with the ring carrier on the shaft. The carbon seal hangs much lower then the SS ring. In the pictures you can see how far out it is, and the dug out oval from the driveshaft rubbing.







I figured the motor was out of alignment, so I installed the alignment tool, the problem is according to the alignment I have to raise the motor a bit to line it up. That in turn will raise the SS ring on the driveshaft making my problem even worse as far as getting the carbon seal and SS ring to line up. When I put the alignment shaft through the thru hull fitting, the shaft almost hits the top of the fitting.

My question is, what is so far out of alignment? Could the thru hull fitting be that far out of wack. It seems to be too low and on a downward angle. Or am I doing the alignment wrong? On the GS models the alignment tool bolts to the complete pump housing, but I notice on the X4 the tool bolts flush to the back of the hull of the ski. Am I missing something here?

 

[Coastiejoe]

Have you removed the engine or engine mounts at all? Are you sure all of your mounts are good and not broken?

I just bought the alignment tool for fellow members to use. Will be renting it out. I just got it delivered three days ago and haven't figured out the best way to ship it and what not. If you need it let me know and I will figure out the numbers.

 

[kicker]

I did not remove the engine, and checked all the mounts, everything is rock solid. I installed my alignment tool thinking that something is way out of wack, but the motor actually needs to be raised a bit to get it properly aligned. But by raising the motor it makes the carbon seal and SS ring even more off center.

I cant think of any reason why the carbon seal wont line up with the ring. I know a little bit off is ok, but in this case, in order to get a flush fit I will have to put alot of pressure on the rubber boot to get it to bend enough for the carbon seal to sit flush. Which to me will result in premature carbon seal wear.

 

[CReynoldsMIZ]

That is really wacky. Hmmm no idea. Wonder if it was a defect in the fiberglass or the thru hull fitting is weird.

 

[vettepilot_6]

Does the aligning tool run true? Just a thought..

 

[manolocross]

Did you have cavitation???? That is really worn. Remember all motor mounts can be adjusted. Even the rear solo one. I say loosen them all and wiggle engine till it keeps shaft straight them align with tool. Remember the long rod should go right into PTO with very little movement if aligned properly.


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[kicker]

Does the aligning tool run true? Just a thought..

Ya the tool is true, I always spin the rod to see if it line up differently, whether it is upside down or not. it lines up the same no matter the position of the rod. I actually store the rod for the alignment tool in a fishing rod case with a bit of bubble wrap to protect while in storage in case in drops.

Did you have cavitation???? That is really worn. Remember all motor mounts can be adjusted. Even the rear solo one. I say loosen them all and wiggle engine till it keeps shaft straight them align with tool. Remember the long rod should go right into PTO with very little movement if aligned properly.


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I have not run this ski yet, so I dont know if there was cavitation. I do have the engine aligned perfectly, the problem is I had to shim the back of the motor. Which in my case makes my problem worse. The motor goes up and the carbon seal stays where it is on the thru hull fitting. Which means it will be even lower then before against the SS ring.

the mounting plate for the alignment tool is mounted against the fiberglass hull, and not the pump plate like the GS hulls. Is this correct or is there some adapter I am missing for the X4 hull?

 

[Minnetonka4me]

The 99 Hulls were known as not the best lay up when they put them together. They had issues with delamination and stuff. Its likely quite distorted.

If what you are showing us in the picture is aligned....not much you can do other than put a new carbon ring in and keep an eye on it.

If its not yet aligned...shim the pump try to center the tool in the hull tube.

 

[CReynoldsMIZ]

I would think there has got to be some ingenius way someone can think of to almost move or shim the accordian boot so that way it sits better against the ring?

 

[kicker]

The 99 Hulls were known as not the best lay up when they put them together. They had issues with delamination and stuff. Its likely quite distorted.

If what you are showing us in the picture is aligned....not much you can do other than put a new carbon ring in and keep an eye on it.

If its not yet aligned...shim the pump try to center the tool in the hull tube.

The picture with the shaft in it is actually the alignment rod, that is where the driveshaft will sit. If I shim the pump to point in a more downward direction toward the motor, that will get me more centered in the thru hull fitting. That way I can lower the motor in order to get the carbon seal and SS ring to line up better. The problem with it is that I wont be able to use the alignment tool to align properly. The plate of the tool is mounted flush to the hull not the pump.

I would think there has got to be some ingenius way someone can think of to almost move or shim the accordian boot so that way it sits better against the ring?

The only fix I can think of is to trim the rubber boot on the carbon seal end and cut it on a slight angle so it can sit flush without more pressure being on one half of the carbon seal. That wont solve the problem of the seal being misaligned top to bottom, but it will solve the unequal pressure on the ring.

 

[Minnetonka4me]

Im saying...is the alignment tool in the PTO or not in the last picture (aligned) ?

As I said you can shim the pump with the round shims to get it better aligned in the hull tube, but that might mean radical changes to get the motor to line back up.

 

[kicker]

Im saying...is the alignment tool in the PTO or not in the last picture (aligned) ?

As I said you can shim the pump with the round shims to get it better aligned in the hull tube, but that might mean radical changes to get the motor to line back up.

In the picture the tool is not lined up with the pto. I had to raise the motor a bit to get it lined up. So where you see the tool sitting in the picture with the thru hull fitting is exactly where the driveshaft will run.

If I shim the pump how do you align the motor with the changed angle of the pump? The alignment tool plate does not sit on the pump or pump housing it sits up against the hull.

It might just have to be a trade off, a lined up carbon seal for a "close enough" lined up driveshaft to motor.

 

[Minnetonka4me]

As I said it might make too radical an angle but if you put a round shim between the hull and you Alignment tool it will change the approach angle of the alignment tool which will allow you to center the tool to the hull tube.

Then from there you can shim the engine, move the Engine left to right on the loose bolts/mounts, and up and down with shims. The tool needs to go all the way into the pto. Any less and the engine isn't tilted the same angle as the pump.

Again... It's possible to shim the pump too radical and thus the engine will take too much change to get to line up.

I've had a few where we have had to just find a happy medium... Esp on jet boats. Those hulls get distorted like crazy.

One other tip is the shims themselves... On angled mounts like the back 2 on the 787 or all 4 on a 580-720s... If you use cheater shims between the mounts and the engine cradle, you will lose some of your left to right free play. Using shims that go under the mount is better.



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[kicker]

Ok I got it, I have never used a pump shim before. What do they look like, I assume they go where the neoprene seal matting surface is? Actually, if you have some there, send some with my order. Email me how much $$

 

[Minnetonka4me]

Ill throw a couple in the box for ya tomorrow bud not a problem.

These are what the OEM ones look like...I have also used the cheater shims and just cut the tab off.